“The Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer Free Essay Example

Even though many people have regrets, you have to realize you can’t hold them in if you want to move on. In “The Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer Sage and Maddy lost their friend, Isabel, and both siblings have regrets about it. So to cope with their loss they both fight with each other and ever blame each other for Isabel’s death. Even though Maddy and Sage have been fighting for months, once they communicate with each other about their regrets, they are able to put their problems aside because they realized Isabel’s death was not their fault.

Initially Maddy is blamed for the death of Isabel, because she was in the car with her and so she’s an easy target for Sage to assert his anger towards. As Sage and Maddy heads to scuba class, Sage is putting bad thoughts into Maddy’s head about what someone could do to your tank. “What our parents don’t understand is that their son has become cruel and unusual, and he shows no sign of changing”(2).

“Cruel and unusual” are strong words to show how mean Sage is to Maddy. The author show how “Cruel and unusual” fit with how Sage is treating Maddy. Also, “Shows no signs of changing” shows that he will be “Cruel and unusual” to her for a long time before he changes. As Maddy is about to get into the water for the first time since the crash she wants the comfort of her brother but he’s not there to comfort her.

“This would be a good time to have a brother who cared if you were feeling shitty about getting into the water, but Sage is not that kind of brother. He won’t even stand near me”(7). “Shitty” is a strong word to use to show how someone is feeling. At this point in the story Maddy is about to get back into the water for the first time sine the crash. She is feeling “Shitty” and needs her brother, but of course he is not there for her. By standing across the pool from Maddy, Sage is showing that he does not care that Maddy is feeling “Shitty”.

Once Maddy stands up for herself and expresses how she feels, Sage regrets the way he treated others. Maddy is sick for Sage making her feel bad by being mean to her, so she stands up for her self. “‘You make me wish I died instead of her,’ I say. He stands there staring at me as if I’ve hit him”(26). “Wish I died instead of her” has a very big impact on the story. Because it shows how mean and cruel Sage was to Maddy. This moment in the story shows that Maddy is telling Sage her real feelings. She tells him how bad he made her feel about her self. So bad that she wished that she died instead of Isabel. Maddy confronts Sage about her fish and tells him how mean it was of him to do that. “‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘Maybe because you’re such a dickhead.’ He takes the pack of cigarettes from me and stuffs it into his pocket. ‘You can’t just not mention the fish, Sage’” (25). “Maybe because you’re a dickhead” is a very strong sentence to show how Sage acted towards Maddy.

At this spot in the story Maddy confronts Sage about what he did to her fish. She work hard to find information on the fish, but he messed up her experiment. So she tells him that he was a dickhead for doing it. Once Sage and Maddy move on from Isabel’s death they learn to support each other. Once Maddy confronts him about the fish and everything he has done to her, he admits he is an asshole. “‘Listen to me,’ he says ‘I’m an asshole. I admit it’”(26). “I’m an asshole” Sage finally admits to himself and Maddy that he was an asshole to her. This is a big changing point in the story because Sage and Maddy share their feelings with each other. They both realize how bad both of their lives have been since the crash. Also, they realize that they need each other. Maddy is about to splash into the water for the second time. “Sage moves close to me as we line up to splash in, him shivering, me trying not to look over the edge into the mouth of the water” (28).

“Sage moves close to me” this shows that Sage is trying to comfort Maddy when she needs it. Once Maddy and Sage open up to each other they learn to care for each other again. Sage sees that Maddy is scared to go back into the water so he moves closer to comfort her. But you can see when the author writes “him shivering” that it show that he is scared to, to get back into the water. Maddy and Sage have been fighting for months but once Maddy has had enough of Sage is abuse, she stands up to him and they realize the death of Isabel was neither of their faults. Just like Maddy and Sage, people often have trouble getting over the death of a person who was close to them. Sometimes to cope with a death you bring someone down with you to try and make your self feel better. But to get back on your feet you have to express your feelings to others when you are feeling trapped, so people can understand where you are coming from. They can help you get back on track with your life and help you through your troubled times.

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